Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance Review by The Successor

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here are special games that make players wonder how in the world they got to be the way they are. What exactly was on the developers' minds while creating them? Castlevania doesn't have many of these games. Most of the titles in this series aren't atypical or anomalous enough to warrant that type of concern. There is Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, and its follow up of sorts, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance. Both are the most curious Castlevania has to offer. No one without inside contact can say whether or not this is an intentional connection, but it's pretty awesome, regardless.

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is a game that will make you wonder.

It's the story of two child hood friends – Juste Belmont and Maxim Kischine. The protagonist, Juste Belmont, is the grandson of Simon Belmont and heir to the Vampire Killer whip. He and Maxim trained together to become Vampire Hunters some time ago. When Juste wholly inherited his family's Vampire Hunting burden and was completely bestowed responsibility of wielding the Vampire Killer whip, Maxim felt as though he was not as good as his friend, whom he once thought his equal.
Maxim kept his restlessness and jealousy inside. To prove his worth, he set out on a training expedition that took him away from home for two years. He sought to hone his skills and become greater than Juste.

Maxim returns unexpectedly, badly beaten and wounded. He mysteriously has no memory of how he obtained his injuries or of his time training away from home. What he does recall is that Lydie Erlanger, a young maiden whom he and Juste are friends with, was abducted and taken to a castle resting in the fog. Juste knows Maxim is not one to lie, thus he follows his friend into the mist where the duo discovers an arcane uncharted castle and enters in hope of finding their lost friend.

From there, possibly the most uncanny Castlevania adventure begins.

This game is much different than its Gameboy Advance predecessor, Circle of the Moon. Both share the free-roaming, explorative game play introduced by Symphony of the Night. However, it's as though they represent two different philosophical extremes. The most outstanding dissimilarity on first contact would be the visuals. Circle of the Moon's graphics are dark, boring, and generally lacking in character and sensibility. They are not necessarily ugly, nor are they handsome, or anywhere close to it.

Harmony of Dissonance is bright and flashy. It goes well out of its way to make sure you notice it. A bright color palette is incorporated because of complaints of Circle of the Moon being too dark. Rewind back to 2002 when Harmony was released. The original, completely unlit model of the Gameboy Advance is what the team was developing for.

When played on modern contraptions like the DS Lite, Harmony of Dissonance is very bright. Some may say it is too bright for Castlevania, something one would assume to be dark. In spite of that, the graphics are remarkable. Harmony takes pride in its fluid multi-jointed creatures, such as the many huge armored menaces. More often than not, bosses are meticulously detailed and animated while showcasing high-quality designs.

The strong point of Harmony's graphics is the areas. They are drenched in character and deep feelings. The designers made sure that players would actually consider the areas they are exploring. Nuances like glistening mist, climbing ivy vines caressing statuary, and lightning induced shadows go a long way. HoD manages to keep surprising you with something new. Detailed masonry, haunting paintings, unusual statues, sophisticated metal work, and well-animated enemies round out one pretty but especially imaginative, artistic game. Juste's magic attacks are glitzy and fun to look at, and lofty animated backgrounds and multi-scrolling are commonplace.

The attention to visual detail should not be unexpected. Harmony of Dissonance was produced by Koji Igarashi, the producer of Symphony of the Night. Symphony has been praised left and right for its magnificent graphics. Harmony is done in the same style as Symphony, and borrows quite a bit from that game. Being on the Gameboy Advance, Harmony cannot match the eminence of Symphony's graphics, hence, the game is considerably less elaborate and refined in appearance. It manages to put a unique spin on Symphony's concepts and makes them its own.

It's not just the look of the castle, but its makeup that draws attention. If Symphony of the Night and Aria of Sorrow's castles are lauded for having structure and making sense as castles, Harmony of Dissonance attacks that entire idea by choosing to go in a completely different direction. There's a feeling of never knowing what will happen in the next room.

We can be sauntering along an ordinary hallway, and in the following room, the whole place is flashing, the background is moving, and the entire demeanor of the environment changes in the blink of an eye. One minute, we're exploring the ugliest cavern and the next; we're in the most beautiful, sky scraping chapel of exquisite architecture. It's all weird and wonderful. To the more traditional mind, it can be seen as sloppy or too abrupt.

Harmony of Dissonance is free form and psychosomatic, paying little heed to logic, reason, or certain formulaic trends. It runs wild on a fantasy trip and whatever happens is what happens. The castle has never felt so alive, conflicted, and like a true "creature of chaos" than in this game. It's more than just an old, crackly building. Being inside its walls is like being in a completely other world.

Despite the bright colors, this game is psychologically darker and more surreal than most Castlevania games. Crimson Armageddon-like skies, deep pools of blood, bleeding statues, bleeding paintings. . .
the list continues. All of this stimulates the imagination. It causes wonder.

In this vampire's castle, why do we find a gorgeous chapel aloft in a day lit sky?
It came from nowhere, and it is stunning. Why are the walls in a certain area lined with radiant pink gemstones? The choices the developers made are odd. Not bad, but strange. I want to know more about this game, and I never will know what I wish to and it fascinates me. The game world is fascinating. It is illogical, alternative, gutsy, and one of a kind. It makes me think, wonder, and analyze. Exploring the castle is fun because it is so curious. These emotional responses are what truly take center stage.

The game play follows Symphony of the Night in that it has an adventure-esque approach. Instead of a linear stage based format, individual areas on a large interconnected map link the castle. This layout allows you to explore where you want, when you please, given you have the appropriate item or ability to move ahead.

You'll traverse not one, but two castles searching for Lydie and finding relics that allow you access to previously inaccessible areas. When certain events are completed in one castle, it has an affect in the other castle. Hopping between the two castles is necessary for progression. This can cause uncertainty in how to advance through the game. You must actually think about what to do and where to go next instead of having the castle guide you along. Due to this lax yet intricate design, sequence breaking can be done often, and the general sense of freedom is a good thing.

Instead of using many different weapons like Alucard from Symphony of the Night, Juste relies on the time tested Vampire Killer whip. The whip is more flexible than in most Castlevania games. Press and hold the B button to lash with the whip, then press the direction pad to fling the whip again in any direction, similar to Super Castlevania IV.

In an effort to add variety to the single weapon, certain stones can be affixed to the whip's tip. Some stones add an elemental attribute such as fire to your whip. Outside of invisible statistics, there is nothing that shows it. The game could have done with added effects, such as converting the whip to the flame whip from Simon's Quest. Some stones simply raise the attack statistic, while the more interesting ones add a completely new feature, such as a spinning attack. This entire addition, in itself, is a great idea, but was left so infantile it seems like an afterthought. I would love to see a future game revisit and build upon it.

An intriguing new magic system called Spell Fusion is introduced. Being a descendant of Sypha Belnades from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, Juste, like his ancestress, can implement the power of magic tomes that are based on elemental forces. Five different spell books are hidden throughout the castles. If acquired, Juste can combine them with the usual sub-weapons to unleash spectacular magic attacks. For example, if you pair the Cross with the Ice Book, a frozen crucifix will appear and follow Juste, raining chilly salvos on enemies until it dissipates.

Older Item Crash moves are included as well, such as the deadly Hydro Storm technique, which attacks all on screen enemies. There is a wide enough arsenal to choose from. You are even given the option of using button combinations to affect and manipulate how certain spells work, which is a lot of fun to play around with. The only problem with Spell Fusion is that it is grossly overpowered. Therein lays the main fault of this game.
It is much too easy. This is another way in which Harmony of Dissonance sharply deviates from Circle of the Moon, which is much more difficult in comparison.

You can level Juste up to raise all of his statistics, buy stock piles of healing potions from the castle's Merchant, find power ups that increase hit point capacity, and equip defense raising armor. There is also the Spell Fusion system that utterly ravages your enemies. These things would be fine, if the opposition was better equipped to deal with them. It seems as if the developers were going out of their way to ensure that players do not die.

This is a shortsighted mistake done to help capture the Japanese market, which is generally indifferent to the Castlevania series. Low difficulty is a negative aspect Harmony inherited from Symphony of the Night. Koji Igarashi had the strange idea that Castlevania would be better accepted if he omitted challenge from it. Over time, he realized this to be stupid, and would balance things better.

The battles are still enjoyable. This can be chalked up to the control, which is smooth and responsive. There is a certain rhythm that can be obtained while playing this game. Juste can attack various ways with the Vampire Killer, use sub-weapons in traditional fashion and equip accessories to alter their performance, perform a slide kick or bounce off of enemies with a proficient jump kick, and there is the Spell Fusion. You can trigger spell books with the greatest of ease and rummage through all available tomes on the fly. By pressing down and both shoulder buttons, you're able to turn spell books on and off, and pressing up and either shoulder button allows you to select which book you'd like. These clever control implementations allow you to manage Spell Fusion without having to pause your game and sift through menus. All things considered, Juste controls like a dream, and the control scheme is well thought out.

A point of fascination, hatred, adoration, and bewilderment is the soundtrack. Due to the dev team's inexperience with the hardware, having such excellent visuals took a toll on the music's production quality. HoD sounds like a game from the NES era. Square and Triangle waves pump out old school style horror tunes with thundering drumming and bombastic bass.

Much unlike the silken pieces of Symphony, this music is rough, powerful, and unrelenting. It's not just the tone that is unorthodox, but the compositional style, as well. Composer Soshiro Hokkai has a unique sense of harmony and percussion. Rather than composing catchy tunes in the vein of "Wicked Child", he opts to create music that is feral in quality, which arouses your instincts as much as your ears. While being great, his music is more psychological, openly demonstrated in the development of his melodic motifs and choice of harmony. The demented melodies lend to a horror attribute, while the ferocity of the percussion creates that untamed quality.

A good example is the track that plays in the save file select menu, known as "Name Entry 2K2". Though not an original tune, Hokkai has his way with it and makes glaring discordance work as his out of key organ harmonizes with the fortified bass rhythm. All the while eerie melody lines play off of the organ lead to unite into something truly distinctive. Perhaps the most notable, though, are the unorthodox drumbeats used in the piece.

"Successor of Fate", which serves as Juste Belmont's theme, is the BGM you hear as you enter the castle proper. Right from the start, the instrumental sets the mood for the whole game. Hokkai weaves solemn melodies that chase and interlace with one another seamlessly. The sad, yearning timbres say a lot in portraying not only Juste's character, but the entire game. It is one of the series' finest and most inimitable tunes.

"To the Center of the Demonic Castle" is a key track. This is a good example of Hokkai's complex harmonies. It begins simple enough, with a repetitive drumbeat and bass, while the lead melodies play out a strange dissonant pattern. It all steadily builds into a flawless entwining of melodies. Hokkai is not held back by his technical restraints. It's not often you hear a video game composer that pushes boundaries as much, even when using state of the art equipment.

Not all the music is harsh and discordant. Some is as gorgeous as can be, but no less complex or astounding. "Chapel of Dissonance" is the most perplexing theme I've heard from Castlevania. It begins with a beautiful melody that errupts into something even more beautiful.

There is so much that can be said about HoD's music, but to sum it up, it is extremely unique. No other Castlevania game has compositions like these, and despite the sound quality, Hokkai's sonatas are the most complex compositions of the entire series. Due to its low technical quality, and the comparatively foreign compositional style, it has many dissenters. I'm not one to force my viewpoints on others, but anyone who says this soundtrack is worthless garbage just does not know what they're talking about, though I admit to it being an acquired taste.

Not only is the music very good, but the sound effects are, too. When swung, the whip has a pleasing crack and an even more gratifying snap when it connects with an enemy. Incantations, battle cries, screams of death, and collapsing candelabras all leave a good, solid, forceful impression.

There's more fun and challenges to be had even after beating the game. Upon finishing Juste's quest, you are given the option to play through it again on harder modes that either restrict the usage of items or Spell Fusion, or purely cause all enemies to become noticeably more powerful. You can choose to play through the game as Maxim Kischine, complete with all new abilities.

There are plenty of Easter eggs for those willing to hunt for them. You can pick up items like paintings and candlesticks to furnish a room in the castle that Juste adopts as his. Complete the room to get the best ending. What's more is that you can hunt for the remains of Dracula, which are hidden within both castles, and will also affect the ending.

Harmony of Dissonance shows me that while a great challenge is great, it doesn't necessarily make or break a game. What this game has you won't find in Aria of Sorrow, Symphony of the Night, Super Castlevania IV - none of the others.
For nearly every hard complaint about Harmony of Dissonance you can find, there is also another side of massive gushing for it.

What makes Harmony of Dissonance adored, hated, and eccentric is that it takes the preconceptions of what Castlevania is supposed to be like and throws them out the window, deciding for itself what it is supposed to be like. If you think Castlevania should be dark, this time it's bright. Even audacious enough to include areas decorated in shining hot pink. If you're expecting Castlevania music to sound a certain way, you've never heard anything like this before. If you'd like the castle to point you in the right direction all the time, it doesn't. There's a good chance you will get lost in its insides and mystified. While breaking down all sorts of walls of convention, Harmony feels like an authentic Castlevania game, considerably more so than the strangely distant Circle of the Moon.

There is no doubt players will leave with a heavy impression. What that particular impression is depends on the player. Due to its presentation, Harmony is the most avant-garde game in the series, and while many can come to greatly appreciate its inventive qualities, others cannot. The game, whilst fairly easy compared to other entries in the series, is notable due to its sheer size, eccentricity, risks taken, fluid controls, stunning graphics, and the elegant, yet sometimes awkward presentation.

Technically, there are other Castlevania games akin to Harmony of Dissonance, but aesthetically, this is definitely exceptional. You can liken it to listening to a strange David Bowie album, in which you wonder how someone came up with something so out of the ordinary, yet managed to make it so particularly special. Certainly, this is a must have for any Gameboy Advance owner.